SB 2570 requires healthcare providers and facilities to inform patients when artificial intelligence (AI) is used to document in-person or telehealth visits. It applies to all licensed healthcare professionals (like doctors, nurses, and dentists) and facilities that use AI for this specific purpose - recording visit details, not for making medical decisions. The law mandates clear notification to patients before or during their visit, defining AI broadly to include technologies like language models and machine learning systems. This notification requirement takes effect immediately upon the bill's passage.
HB 7740 clarifies the rules for when registered nurses and nurse practitioners can administer deep sedation or general anesthesia, specifically limiting these actions to emergency situations where delaying care would endanger a patient's health. The bill explicitly prohibits these providers from using general anesthetics for elective, scheduled procedures unless an urgent need arises, while still allowing them to perform minimal or moderate sedation as usual. To enforce these limits, the law requires that any nurse or nurse practitioner who is not a certified registered nurse anesthetist must not initiate, adjust, or maintain general anesthetic medications outside of critical care scenarios. Additionally, the bill mandates that hospitals report specific serious incidents, such as unplanned transitions to deep sedation that result in severe patient outcomes, to the Department of Health within 24 hours.
HB 7949 authorizes Rhode Island's Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to license mobile response and stabilization services (MRSS) that provide crisis intervention for children and young adults under 21. This bill directly affects MRSS providers, requiring them to meet new licensing standards set by DCYF. Key provisions include regulations on staff qualifications, safety standards, child-to-staff ratios, background checks, and record-keeping to ensure quality care. The law amends existing licensing rules to include MRSS as a distinct service category under DCYF's oversight.
HB 7534 allows licensed pharmacists to prescribe and dispense FDA-approved tobacco cessation drugs under specific conditions. Pharmacists must complete state-approved education, verify patients meet criteria (age 18+, participation in a structured program, and nicotine safety education), and refer high-risk cases to primary care providers. The bill also mandates that health insurance plans cover these pharmacist-provided cessation services starting January 1, 2027, without requiring supervision or referrals from other providers. This policy directly affects pharmacists, patients seeking smoking cessation support, and health insurers by expanding access to tobacco cessation care through pharmacists' existing scope of practice.
Requires the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals to publish a statewide guide to the youth behavioral health system.
HB 7944 requires health insurance plans to cover mental health and substance use disorder treatment under the same terms as medical care. It prohibits annual or lifetime dollar limits on such coverage and mandates that financial requirements (like copays) and treatment restrictions must not be more stringent than those for physical health conditions. The bill specifies coverage categories (e.g., inpatient, outpatient), mandates medication-assisted treatments for substance use disorders (like methadone), and ensures cost-sharing for behavioral health visits matches primary care standards, directly affecting all health insurance plans and their policyholders.
Requires the secretary of the executive office of health and human services to monitor and mandate changes to the price-setting practices of pharmacy benefit managers to prohibit the spread pricing payment model.
HB 7722 requires health insurers to pay dental benefits directly to non-contracted dentists when patients request it, provided the dentist meets the insurer’s credentialing standards. Insurers must pay at least the highest rate they pay to contracted dentists for the same service, with no more than a 5% reduction allowed. This applies to standard dental insurance policies but excludes hospital indemnity, Medicare supplements, and other limited benefit plans. The bill gives patients more choice in dental providers without insurers unfairly reducing payments based on non-participation.
Mandates insurance coverage for scalp cooling treatments for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to prevent hair loss during chemotherapy treatments.
Caps the total amount that a covered person is required to pay for a covered prescription inhaler, prescription device, or prescription equipment to twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per thirty (30) day supply.
